Gender composition in Chilean schools: Does it affect academic achievement and school environment?

Abstract

This study analyzes the differences in academic achievement and school environment of a special feature of school composition: the gender of the students. Regarding the discussion about efficiency and effectiveness in co-educational and single-sex schools in the USA and Europe, this paper examines the effects on academic and social outcomes of schools with different gender composition in Chile. To analyze net differences of gender composition, a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) method was used. The results show no statistical differences in academic achievement and school environment between co-education and single-sex schools in different grades (4th, 8th in primary and 10th in secondary), although we found statistical differences in some grades in academic self-esteem in favor of single-sex schools. This evidence suggests new challenges to the national educational policy and future research in this area.